New "adventures"

We are glad we could make it home :D
Yesterday morning, at 5 am we went to Pitesti CAC - dog show. In Bucharest traffic was blocked because 2 tracks had collided and it lasted about half an hour to remove them from the road...We were fearing we wouldn't arrive on time. We did, thank God.

There we met Mrs Maghiari of Mediguard Kennel, Emma's breeder, Ioana Miricescu of FISO Royal House Kennel, our friend and Emma's handler for the show (big thanks to both of you!!!!!!!!!!!!) Lory and George, our friends of Nobila Casa Kennel, Simona Damian of Parmen Auriu Kennel and Radu Serban of Hidalgo's Spirit Kennel. Also other Golden Retriever owners and people we usually meet at dog shows :) All wonderful people, we had a great time together. Phil loved As (Asterix, I do not recall his official name) for his attitude and lovely temperament. He also did well at the show!

The show went well, thank you Ms Giura and Ms Gheorghiu for the lovely words for Emma!: "lovely head, gorgeous expression, lovely eyes, set well, well set and carried ears, excellent angulations", Exc 1

Everything went well till we hit the road back. We had left Pitesti, went through Bucharest, but on the highway we had the nastiest problem :our engine had problems, smoke was coming out of it. We stopped at every gas station to try to fix it. We looked for a car mechanic, but it was Saturday evening so no one was available. We were warned though that our engine could catch fire. We were not comfortable with the idea, Emma was leashed all the way back home so that in the event we had to leave the car,she would be ready to leave in a hurry. We arrived home very late, it was past 10 pm. All the joy from the show had disappeared because of this nasty technical issue.


PS Emma insisted on sitting in my lap with all her 30+ kg. Both ways, so my muscles ache from her sitting on me for such a long time :D






PPS: I got the most wonderful compliment from both judges!!!! That Emma was perfectly groomed!!!!! When I told them I was just a beginner their eyes popped out "Reallyyyy?Amazing!"

New photos

A perfect day ruined from early morning

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/114189

http://www.docuinter.net/en/net_archive.php?id=563

Before you ask me how, I'd have to tell you HBO and the Czechs doing the film did an amazing job!

I feel immense bitterness, and the feeling of awkwardness is overwhelming. I wish I hadn't seen this documentary. "Welcome to North Korea" is not for the fainthearted, nor for someone ignorant of history. But it is a documentary worth watching!

Some tourists from the Czech Republic( former communist country) visit North Korea, the totalitarian regime that has perfected its fear-inducing techniques. Orwell's novels 1984 and Animal Farm are kids' stories compared to what is going on in this communist country.

The country is depressing through its communist-type buildings, through its incredibly oppressing atmosphere. The Czechs felt watched and spied on at every step. A wrong action undertaken by them would have lead to their guides being punished, probably thrown in a concentration camp or even worse, killed. Things like these happen in such regimes. Innocent people disappear without a trace just because someone thought they said/did something wrong. Politically wrong. Freedom of speech does not exist there. The closest image I have in mind for anyone who has not experienced communism are concentration camps in World War II.

Oh and the blackouts. They cut electricity in order to...I don't know, save it, or induce more fear...But the horrible statues and mausoleums dedicated to communism have plenty of lights. So I'd take my second guess - they cut electricity to induce more fear.

Food. I don't know how the heck, but food has been a problem in most communist countries, due to poor administration of crops. Well in North Korea the situation is tragic, and probably the worst possible.

The feeling of anger and deep frustration is still overwhelming, even if some hours passed since I have seen this documentary. I feel like I took an imaginary trip to hell, the deepest pits of hell.

Happy Birthday, grandpa!

We had lots of fun with my grandpa, grandma and my aunt! Played a lot, grandpa took me for a lot of walks, too! Those were bonus for my regular walks, but I never say no to a walk. And I got lots of treats because it was grandpa's birthday! The treats have been approved by mom :D

Wove you, grandpa! Big time!

Smuggler busted!

I suppose everyone is familiar with the love Golden Retrievers have for sticks. Throw them and they will fetch them, and when they get tired they start chewing on sticks. Emma is fanatic when it comes to sticks. She even carries one during walks, when we go out or come back home, etc. But the rule is "no sticks in the house" so she drops it at the door.

Well today I thought I really placed it outside, near the door. But as soon as we got in the house, Emma fled to the bedroom. I know she loves our bed so I assumed she wanted to take a nap. But something told me there is something fishy about her behavior, so I went to check. The stick was there, and she was chewing on it :D Smuggler busted!

And then her daddy told me "come on, her stick is like internet for us, it's her joy and pleasure, her hobby, give it back to her and we will clean after" No wonder she is daddy's girl!

Mom, how could you????

It was already late night when we left the park. So you understand why it happened.

So when the time came for us to leave, Mrs Pavel and mom were still talking and we took off for a final running round. Mom called Emma, "I" showed up, mom was talking to Mrs Pavel and didn't even look when she put the collar around my neck...And suddenly Mrs Pavel starts calling Blanca, tail wave....tail wave. ...Guess what? Mom had Blanca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG COME ON, CAN'T YOU EVEN LOOK, MOM!?!?!?!?!?!? I finally came and...oh well, the last is irrelevant. Both mom and Mrs Pavel were laughing because they did not realize Blanca came, not me!

So this brings me to : MOM HOW COULD YOU???

Present: new duck v1

When mom came home from work, I was asleep. But oh was I happy to see she got something for me! A DUCK!

Photos

And a video:



The duck is called duck v1 (as in version1) because that duck got rid of the nice ribbon and the flower is ...well...a bit chewed up.